RNC Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

RNC Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 517,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,421 shares during the quarter. Sempra comprises approximately 2.4% of RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $45,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Sempra by 5.5% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $82.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.46.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.